Jurisdiction of the High Court Division:
Article 101 of the Constitution provides that the High Court Division shall have such original, appellate and other jurisdictions, powers and functions as are or may be conferred on it by the Constitution or any other law.
a. Original Jurisdiction:
Original jurisdiction of the High Court Division means that jurisdiction whereby it can hear a case or suit as Court of first instance. The Constitution has conferred on the High Court Division special Original Jurisdiction under Article 102 of the Constitution, under which the High Court Division can enforce fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution and can also exercise its power of judicial review. There are some other ordinary laws (Acts of Parliament) namely, The Companies Act, 1994; The Admiralty Court Act, 2000; The Bank Companies Act, 1991; Will and Probate under Succession Act, 1925; The Divorce Act, 1869; The Representation of the People Order, 1972; Bangladesh Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1983; The Contempt of Courts Act, 1926 etc.) which fall under the ordinary/original jurisdiction of the High Court Division. Further jurisdiction of the High Court Division is guided by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and The Supreme Court (High Court Division) Rules, 1973.
b. Appellate Jurisdiction:
Any law may confer on the High Court Division appellate jurisdiction on any matter. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898; The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; Section 42 of Value Added Tax Act, 1991; Section 196D of the Customs Act, 1969 etc and the High Court Division Rules, 1973 have conferred on the High Court Division appellate jurisdiction.
c. Revisional Jurisdiction:
(a) Section 115 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 has conferred on the High Court Division the revisional jurisdiction. The High Court Division may examine the decisions of the courts subordinate to it.
(b) Section 439 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 has conferred on the High Court Division the revisional jurisdiction as to criminal matters of the courts subordinate to it. Furthermore, the High Court Division has inherent power under section 561A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code or to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.
d. Review Jurisdiction:
Section 114 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 has conferred on the High Court Division the review jurisdiction. The High Court Division Rules, 1973 Part II, Chapter X and Order XLVII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 deal with the procedural matters of review.
e. Jurisdiction as to Superintendence and Control over Courts Subordinate to it:
Article 109 of the Constitution provides that the High Court Division shall have superintendence and control over all Courts and Tribunals subordinate to it.
f. Transfer of cases from subordinate Courts to the High Court Division:
Under Article 110 of the Constitution if the High Court Division is satisfied that a case pending in a Court subordinate to it involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution, or on a point of general public importance, the determination of which is necessary for the disposal of the case, it shall withdraw the case from that Court and may- (a) either dispose of the case itself; or (b) determine the question of law and return the case to the Court from which it has been so withdrawn (or transfer it to another subordinate Court) together with a copy of the judgment of the Division on such question, and the court to which the case is so returned or transferred shall, on receipt thereof, proceed to dispose of the case in conformity with such judgment.
Apart from the above, section 113 of The Code of Civil Procedure 1908 gives jurisdiction to the High Court Division to give opinion and order on a case referred to it by any subordinate Court by way of reference. Under section 160 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 the High Court Division is empowered to hear income tax references. Section 24 of The Code of Civil Procedure provides for transfer of cases of the civil Courts and section 526 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for transfer of cases under criminal jurisdiction of the subordinate Courts.
Lawazima Court: The Lawazima Court is presided over by the Registrar. This court deals with the procedural matters for making the cases ready for hearing.
Bench of the High Court Division:
It is noticed from the Supreme Court of Bangladesh (High Court Division) Rules, 1973, that generally there are two types of Bench, i.e. Single Bench and Division Bench. Sometimes there are seen Special Bench, Full Bench and Larger Bench.
Single Bench:
Comprising of one judge generally hears, in civil matters, those matters, valuation of which not more than Tk. 6,00,00,000/-. In criminal matters, those matters where the sentence more than 7 years, but there are some criminal matters, those matters where the sentence not more than 7 years, but there are some criminal matters such as application under sections 561A, 498, 526, 195, 476 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is not heard by Single Bench.
Division Bench:
Comprising of two judges hear, in civil matters, those cases where the valuation of the subject matter exceeds Tk. 6,00,00,000/-;. Generally it is also noticed that the original matters except writ matters heard by the single bench. In criminal matters, those matters where the sentence more than 7 years, but there are some criminal matters, those matters where the sentence exceeds 7 years, and all the matters under sections 561A, 498, 526, 195, 476 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.